Anders Lee's resurgent season for the NY Islanders would have been All-Star worthy

Anders Lee's best years are supposed to be behind him.

The New York Islanders captain, at age 34, is in the sixth year of a seven-year contract extension often described as too long and for too much money. Lee was said to be too slow and too old to be a factor the way he had earlier in this career. The goal production had remained steady; he scored 20 in a sub-par 2023-24 season after 28 goal campaigns the prior two, but that didn't

Lee scored his 19th goal of the season Thursday night in Vegas while playing in his 800th career game, the first of 10 Islanders to score on that milestone. Lee, who has 14 assists and 33 points through 41 games this season, is now on pace to set career highs in both categories and to become only the fourth Islander to score 30+ goals in a season since he scored 40 in 2017-18 (Brock Nelson 3x, Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat are the others).

"Lee is having one of these years, and every forward has one to some degree, where it doesn't matter where you shoot it, it goes in," said MSG color analyst Butch Goring after Lee gave the Isles a 1-0 lead in the first period versus Vegas." The Isles' captain has been on a roll this season, and after two goals against the Bruins and one in Vegas has 11 goals in 18 games since Thanksgiving.

The NHL won't be holding an All-Star Weekend this year because of the Four Nations Face-off. That's unfortunate for Lee, who would almost certainly be representing the Islanders this season and making his first All-Star appearance. The work he did in the off-season with NHL Hall-of-Famer Adam Oates has paid off, along with a scoring touch that is showing no signs of slowing down this season.

Suddenly, the talk about Lee's contract being too long has quieted down, and some are even wondering what he would demand on the trade market. Moving the team's captain with the term left on his contract is unlikely, so instead, fans should appreciate the lifelong Islanders' resurgence and hope it lasts as the team aims to turn their season around in the second half of the season.